Wow! This event had it all – live music, open dancing, wandering waiters with trays of hot finger food, lots of fun items to bid on in a silent auction, a raffle, living statues of Demeter and Artemis, and most importantly - a top notch line-up of belly dance entertainment. The setting of the chandeliered Roseland Ballroom and many of the guests dressing to the nines made this a true “gala”!
I will happily overlook the 20-minute delay letting us in the door, as the remainder of the night ran like a well-oiled hip shimmy. The evening was marked by 3 belly dance performance sets, with a break of about 20 minutes between each one, during which time attendees enjoyed the live music of Ameraba while perusing the auction items, and partook of the ample trays of chicken teriyaki, stuffed mushrooms and crab Rangoon being circulated around the room by wandering waiters.
The highlight of the night was definitely the performances. I want to tell you every little detail about them, but for brevity’s sake, I will try to rein it in a little…
Susi opened the first set with an Egyptian Wedding Dance using a Shamadan for her first number. In her gorgeous gold beaded costume, she was a golden goddess – all shine and dazzle – perfect for offering this blessing of Light.
Panayiota danced to a Romany 9/8, followed by a fun version of Miserlou that I had not heard before. She impressed us with her absolutely gorgeous shimmies.
Hanan, a second-generation belly dancer who is also proficient in Tahitian dance performed a contemporary Arabic show. She used her music to advantage alternating between sultry and playful as the music dictated, and she worked some lovely Tahitian hip technique into her routine.
The set closed with Chantal who entertained us with her folkloric styling, dancing an Egyptian Meleya Leff followed by a sassy drum solo. With Chantal’s encouragement, the crowd clapped and zahagareeted, ending the first performance set on a very energetic note.
Set number two was opened by Lola – another second-generation belly dancer - performing an Oriental piece. Using the song “Alf Leila Wa Leila”, she demonstrated wonderful spins and artistry with the Wings of Isis.
Melina – yet another second-generation belly dancer (three in one night?) – was by far the crowd favorite. She performed a four-part fusion routine accompanied by four different percussion instruments with live drummer John DeKadt. Part one was an energetic opening to Riq percussion and ended with a perfectly executed Turkish drop. For the next part, John played a Hang drum – a Swiss percussion instrument that looks like an alien spaceship and produces wonderfully melodious sound as it is played. Here Melina amazed us with her strong and sensual floor work. John switched to a frame drum as Melina amazed us by dancing while simultaneously standing and balancing on three candlesticks! But that’s not all – there was one more part… John switched to dumbek as Melina astonished the crowd with her sword and dagger routine: balancing a sword on the tip of a dagger held in her mouth, while shimmying and playing zills! She brought down the house and received a standing ovation for her efforts!
After a round of desserts, the crowd was ready for the final performance set of the evening.
This set began with the lovely Najmat – all power and grace in a beautiful striped baladi dress adorned with a simple white hip sash. She opened with a cane dance, and impressed with us her precise and powerful hips as she finished with a fiery drum solo.
Aurel – the brains behind this gala – took the stage next casting a spell over the audience as she danced with a tray of candles balanced on her head. Lest we take ourselves too seriously, with a lift of an eyebrow and a teasing shift of her eyes, she infused her performance with some light-hearted humor.
And finishing the night was “phabulous” Phaedra performing a Turkish style routine, the highlights of which were a moving, heart-tugging veil routine, and of course Phaedra’s always marvelous hips. And not to be outdone, she ended her drum solo with a Turkish drop.
Congratulations to Aurel and The Helping Hips for producing an outstanding and well run event that netted more than $7000 for the“We Love Children” organization. I look forward to attending the second annual charity gala! - reviewed by Cathy Moore
